diff --git a/lib/utils/exit-handler.js b/lib/utils/exit-handler.js
index 0b9ee3da57c60..64117949357a4 100644
--- a/lib/utils/exit-handler.js
+++ b/lib/utils/exit-handler.js
@@ -140,10 +140,8 @@ const exitHandler = err => {
     // will presumably print its own errors and exit with a proper status
     // code if there's a problem.  If we got an error with a code=0, then...
     // something else went wrong along the way, so maybe an npm problem?
-    const isShellout = npm.isShellout
-    const quietShellout = isShellout && typeof err.code === 'number' && err.code
-    if (quietShellout) {
-      exitCode = err.code || 0
+    if (npm.isShellout && typeof err.code === 'number' && err.code) {
+      exitCode = err.code
       suppressLogMessage = true
     } else if (typeof err === 'string') {
       // XXX: we should stop throwing strings